McHenry’s Goebel heads to state

GRAYSLAKE – McHenry’s Brittany Goebel qualified Monday for the IHSA Girls Tennis State Tournament in singles by finishing fourth at the Grayslake North Sectional.

Goebel defeated Gurnee Warren’s Max Mella in the quarterfinals, 6-1, 6-3, to qualify for her first trip to state. The sectional was postponed Saturday because of rain.

“I played well,” Goebel said. “I’m so happy I get to go to state.”

After going up, 4-1, in the second set against Mella, Goebel dropped two games to tighten the score and the pressure with a state berth at stake.

“At that point I was a little scared,” Goebel said. “I wanted it so badly I don’t think anything was going to stop me.”

Goebel lost to Lake Forest’s Elizabeth Zordani, 6-1, 6-1, in the semifinals and Warren’s Karyna Bihel, 6-1, 6-0, in the third-place match. Both of those opponents will likely be in the upper half of the seeded players at state.

Warriors coach Kyle Funkhouser said Goebel (21-11) benefited from playing No. 2 singles last year behind Emma Romme, a state qualifier, and playing tough competition in the Fox Valley Conference. All of her losses this season came against state qualifiers.

“Being at that two level you could never see her full potential,” Funkhouser said. “Our area is pretty deep, so that helped [Goebel] prepare for this.”

In doubles, McHenry’s Lauren Edwards and Celina Kilhefner lost to Lake Forest’s Maddie Lipp and Christina Zordani in the quarterfinals.

McHenry placed fifth as a team with 10 points and Johnsburg was sixth with eight. Lake Forest won with 36 points.